Stories & Worlds

Mythstone is a mythological-themed AU story featuring my main characters, set on the fictional island of Keiby. It's about a group of travellers on a journey to cure themselves of their various supernatural afflictions.

The story primary follows Kai - a young man afflicted by lycanthropy, who, after a tragedy which he inadvertently caused, has no choice but to flee his small town, the only place he's ever known. It's when Kai, on the run, shelters from a thunderstorm in a cave that he finds Martha, a gorgon woman hiding from society in the fear that she'll hurt someone, just like she did to a loved one, many years ago. Kai tells Martha he's on a journey to cure his lycanthropy, and invites her to come along too. He's on a journey to find the witch of the north - a enigmatic character said to be advanced at magic, able to cure every curse and supernatural affliction. But nobody really even knows if the witch of the north exists - she's an old story, a legend. But Kai has no other ideas. Martha, excited at the prospect and optimistic about the future, jumps at the chance to join him on his quest.

The two of them begin heading north, Kai's hometown of Depdale far behind them, now.

It's one night, sleeping beneath some trees, that Addison, a vampire, encroaches on the two of them, looking to feed. Deciding to give Martha and her serpents a wide berth, Addison gravitates towards Kai, but after they bite him, recoils at the taste of wolf blood. Kai, awake now, pursues Addison, explains what he and Martha are doing, and invites them to join the party. They refuse, threaten him, and slink back into the shadows. The next day, Kai and Martha rescue Addison from a group of angry villagers. Afterwards, Addison is angry that they did so, and flies off, but later that evening, catches up to the duo, reluctantly apologising and offering to repay the favour. Martha and Kai suggest they come with them. Addison really doesn't want to do this. But, bound by their promise, they join the pair.

The trio continue to head north. Eventually, it's revealed that someone has been following them - Matthew is a young man trapped in the form of a corvid, and he's been following Kai since he started his journey. Matthew has complex thoughts about being cured of his affliction, but he's intrigued enough by their goals that he's continued to follow them, to see where it goes. The four of them, after some bonding, eventually reach the northern shore. The island that the witch of the north is said to live on is a short boat journey away, but that night, they camp on the beach. Martha wakes up to watch the ocean, when she's approached by Sylvi, a lonely siren looking to chat. Martha invites Sylvi to come with them, but she quickly refuses. She swims away.

The next day, they board a boat, headed for the island. Halfway through their journey, however, Kai falls off the boat, straight into the ocean. As it turns out, it's Sylvi, and she's trying to drown him. Addison jumps to his assistance, and hauls him back on board. Everyone's a little shaken for the rest of the journey.

The four of them find the home supposedly belonging to the witch of the north. They knock on the door, and she answers, only to tell them that she 'doesn't do that anymore'. After a lot of persistence, she agrees to sit down and talk to them. There's not much she can do for Kai's lycanthropy. Nobody knows the cure. There was a rumour, years back, about some people searching for a cure in New Keiby, but that's all she's heard.
The bad news extends to Martha, too. It's a very strong curse that's been placed on her. In order to undo it, you'd need the cooperation of the very person who cast it in the first place. Or at the very least, you'd need to know exactly how they did it.
As for Addison, there is no cure - or, there is, if you consider death itself a cure. Addison isn't living. The curse is the only thing keeping them 'alive'. Removing the vampirism would leave nothing but a dead body.
It's better news for Matthew. In fact, curing him is a doddle. She can do it right there and then, and, after some deliberation, she does.

Matthew seems to have mixed feelings about being back in his old body, but he doesn't seem to want to talk about them right now.

The group settle and discuss what they'll do next. The witch (Iyalah), who seems to have grown fond of the group, invites them to stay the night. Kai tells them he's going to head for New Keiby. He doesn't expect anyone to come with him, but they all decide to, even Matthew.

There have been sightings of a certain ghost around the country for the last few weeks. He'll knock on doors at any time during the night, and, if answered, he'll then ask them if they've seen a 'weird bird'. But then, as soon as he came, he'll vanish.
He knocks on Iyalah's door late that night, and upon seeing Matthew, breaks into a joyous grin. Charlie's been looking for Matthew for months, and now, he's found him - even if not in life, but death. But Matthew freaks out. He doesn't understand why his brother is dead, and when Charlie begins to fade into mist, he only gets more worked up as the grim reality of the situation descends on him. He screams at Iyalah to do something, and though she protests, she eventually gives in and contains his soul in a jar.

Matthew no longer wishes to join them on their journey - he needs to figure out what happened to his brother. But the others, as it turn out, want to change their plans too - they want to join him. Matthew objects to this, but they insist.

The next day, after sparse sleep, Iyalah explains that they might be able to find his body and get some answers using the contents of the jar. She can help them - but it's going to take time for her to engineer something like that. Everyone is a little frustrated, by both the current situation, and their own, personal reasons. After a few days, Iyalah has created a ring which has fluid metallic properties, capable of tightening, the closer it is to whatever's left of Charlie. Matthew isn't terribly impressed but he takes the ring. Everyone bids farewell to Iyalah as they board their boat and sail back to the mainland.

The ring is frustrating and difficult to understand, and their next day consists of mostly wandering around, periodically stopping to analyse the ring, to see if it's changed in size at all. That night, they camp by a river. Martha goes outside to sightsee, and, like before, she is approached by Sylvi, who profusely apologises for what she did to Kai. Martha begins yelling at her, but Sylvi ends up explaining her affliction in more detail, explaining in full her seeming addiction to drowning men, and her entire tragic backstory. It's out of her hands.
Martha is frustrated, and asks Sylvi why she didn't just come with them in the first place. Sylvi tells her that she feared hurting one of Martha's friends - and with good reason, clearly.
For reasons that she struggles to fully understand, Martha wants to help Sylvi. She wants to so much, in fact, that she takes off with her that night, backtracking and heading towards Iyalahs home.

Iyalah is surprised to see them, but she agrees to help Sylvi. Unfortunately, Sylvi's case is very similar to Addison's, in the sense that she isn't living. The only cure would be death. On a more positive note, Iyalah works with Sylvi to control her bloodthirsty urges, and Sylvi takes great strides, eventually getting to a point where she feels able to exist without the constant concern of hurting others, partly due to enchantments, partly due to herbal remedies which Iyalah prescribes.

The two of them make their way back to the others, who are staying in a warehouse storing wine. Matthew, Kai, and Addison, meanwhile, found Charlie. Matthew's in a bit of a state after the day he's had. Peace doesn't last long after the girls come home. The truth about Charlie's demise comes out. On a serene lake, one evening a few weeks back, Charlie was pulled to his death by Sylvi.
Matthew is enraged. He and Sylvi get into an awful fight, and he almost kills her, before it's broken up by Kai. Matthew storms off, out into the night, drunk.

Matthew, at some point, falls down a hole, landing in what would come to be known as The Underneath. He's almost killed by a freaky snake lady, before he's rescued by a rebellion group of naga people. He's not without injuries, however, and he's nursed back to health by Dakota, a young naga woman, who he grows close to during the time he's there. One day, the rebellion hall is raided. Dakota is told to take Matthew and flee. The two of them travel through a tunnel which floods, and eventually, pours out of a mountainside. They land in a lake, and Matthew brings Dakota to the surface. She is shocked as she's never been above ground.

When Matthew doesn't come back to the warehouse, the others are concerned. Sylvi decides to leave. Addison stays in the warehouse in case Matthew comes back while Kai and Martha go out to look for him. They have no luck. With two party members down, Kai, Martha, and Addison reluctantly make their way northeast, to see about finding passage into New Keiby.

-- Plot holes/ stuff to figure out Sylvi, fish tail, how she be walking